


Behind Blue Eyes

by waywardcoldflashwave (urbanphoenix27)



Series: Coming Home [2]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV), The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Bart Allen - Freeform, Coldflashwave, Crossover, Far Future!Barry, Future!Barry, Future!Len, Future!Mick, M/M, Soulmate Tattoos, Speed Force, Threesome - M/M/M, Time Manipulation, Time Travel, coldflash - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-22
Updated: 2017-02-08
Packaged: 2018-08-16 18:43:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8113264
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/urbanphoenix27/pseuds/waywardcoldflashwave
Summary: Len is saved by two people that he though were gone. But they aren't gone, they were just bidding time in order to save him and hopefully save their past and present. Takes place during Shadow Preachers and Sweet Nothing.





	1. Rescued in a Flash

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own. I have no beta. 
> 
> Story Song: Behind Blue Eyes by Limp Bizkit (Originally by the Who)
> 
> Chapter Song: Start of Something Good - Daughtry

_You find out it's all been wrong_  
And all my scars don't seem to matter anymore  
Cause they led me here to you 

“There are no strings on me.” 

The bright blue of the explosion forced him to close his eyes. It was like firing the cold gun on full power without his goggles. Pain ripped up through his left arm. Heat unlike anything he’s ever felt before burned up his arm toward him. It wasn’t like when he iced his own hand and shattered it. No, this pain was hot and it was burning. Fate would give him the tattoo of his secondary before the most unimaginable pain hit him. Vaguely, he knew that his life was that messed up. 

There was a shock through his body, intensifying the burning and causing him to bow his back. His hand was no longer holding onto the oculus though, so nothing was holding him up. On his knees, he curled in on himself. There was nothing to stem the pain, to allow it continue until he was unconscious or dead. No the pain stopped at his arm. 

“Len!” The voice was distant, far away, but it cut through some of throbbing in his head.

Opening his mouth, he let out a scream unaware that he shouldn’t be able to. That he should be annihilated with Druce and soldiers that had surrounded him. He felt hands wrap around him, pulling him back until he was against something warm. 

The screams continued. The pain was still prominent. Every move, every miniscule touch of air against his left arm sent him spiraling. 

Was he in hell?

“Easy,” A softer, yet mature voice murmured as hands pulled his head back to rest on a shoulder. The hand was cool, cooler than a person’s. Maybe that was because he was burning. “You have to open your eyes.”

No. He tried to twist away from the coolness. The pain was slowly, so very slowly, disappearing and he didn’t understand why. 

“He’s reversing time around your arm so Mick’s tattoo won’t be damaged. That’s what is causing the most pain right now.” The explanation came without question. “The exploding oculus was cutting away your connection as the time streams in it burned your tattoo.” 

“He needs to breath slower,” Another voice, male, said from his left near his arm. 

“He will, when he realizes he can.” The voice by his ear assured. 

Len didn’t know how long it took, but as the pain ebbed away, he slowly opened his eyes and slowed his breathing. He was…it was S.T.A.R. Labs. Did he make it home? The room was eerily empty. 

“You are safe for now.” The voice to his left drew his gaze. Len’s eyes widened to see Barry, an older and more mature looking man, standing there. Green hazel eyes watched him as he tried to get his mind to work through the lingering of the pain. “He’s still in shock.” 

“He’ll come out of it.” The man behind him said. “Come on, let’s get him standing.” 

Barry reached forward and grabbed Len’s right shoulder, hauling him up as the man behind him lifted. When he was on his feet, the unknown man let him go, but Barry kept a steady hand on him, staying to his right. 

“I almost didn’t get to you in time,” The speedster said. “It is a bit difficult to manipulate when I don’t have a physical body.” 

“Manipulate what?” Len asked as he started to get his bearings. 

“The speed-force,” Barry answered. “I’m the lingering consciousness of the far-future Barry you saw disintegrate on the oculus.” That caused Len to stare at him. “I will fade after I take care of you and put you and him back in your proper timelines.” 

Len started to turn slowly, but stopped as the other man walked around until he was standing next to Barry. It was himself…no it was Captain to the future Mick’s Lieutenant. This was Barry’s the one that was on the Wave Rider, this was his Len. He looked slightly older but not by much. 

“Perks of being soul mated to a speedster,” The older Len smirked. “You can consider me Captain or Cold, it makes it easier for Allen here to differentiate us.” The speedster snorted. “Either way, we were able to pull you away from the majority of the explosion and fix most of the damage.” 

“Damage?” Len looked down at his left arm. Around his wrist there was an uneven pattern of burns, a bit of it almost touching Mick’s tattoo but just barely. “You…you said it was severing my connection to Mick?” 

“You destroyed a device that was powered by the speed-force in order to manipulate time. When it was destroyed, there was nothing to contain the power.” Barry explained. He waved his hand and the area waved from the Labs to the scene of what happened. 

Len spun around to watch a memory of him say goodbye to Barry while the Lieutenant carried him away. 

“Mick will hate me when I go back,” He heard his voice say as the Captain stepped up beside him. Len glanced at his older self to see the man twitch when Barry was shouting for his ‘moon’. “He never liked making Scarlet cry.” 

They continued to watch as the memory unfolded. The appearance of Barry’s tattoo on his arm and the antagonizing of Druce, just happened for Len. To see them from this perspective was unsettling. It was as the oculus exploded that it seemed like time slowed down. Before the full explosion could hit him, Len watched as a bolt of lightning raced in to strike him. He disappeared and the explosion continued as the memory faded. 

“So you saved me, just going to drop me off at home now?” Len turned back to the future Barry, only to pause. The man was holding his head in pain. The Captain brushed past him and went to Barry. 

“Pushed yourself,” He heard the man say. 

“Had to in order to fix this bullshit the Time Masters did,” the speedster replied as he leaned briefly on the shoulder before standing and looking at Len. “And no, I can’t drop you off at home. I don’t have enough power or control to do that.” 

“But you had enough to snatch me up,” The thief rolled his eyes. 

“If I didn’t you’d be dead and…” Barry wavered. The Captain held him up with a hand on his arm. He looked at the man. “It’s starting.” 

“That’s faster than we anticipated,” The older thief said with a frown. 

“I’m being particularly stubborn,” The brunette huffed. He turned his green hazel eyes to Len. “The Hunters went after Lisa and the other families.” 

That caused Len to stiffen. 

“No worries,” The Captain added for the thief’s benefit. “Gideon will ensure that she stays alive.” He looked back at Barry. “I’m getting the influx while I’m here. I’ll probably have the memories before I leave.” 

“Most likely,” The future man said as the area around them wavered and turned into a home. It was fancier than the West house and looked to be out in the woods. He stepped away from the Captain and sat on the couch. “I figured we would want somewhere comfortable for our talk. Welcome to my humble adobe Len.” 

“This is your house?” The younger thief asked in surprise. 

“My primary’s before everything happened. It seems your Barry from 2016 still has it though and has been using it.” The meta-human looked at the older version of him. “You ready to explain all this?”

“Nothing like a riveting conversation with myself,” The Captain smirked at Len. “This should be interesting.”


	2. Intervening Futures

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cold and FarFuture!Barry explain a few things to Len.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> See chapter 1 for disclaimer.
> 
> Chapter Song: Somebody's Watching Me by Hidden Citizens (originally Rockwell)

_I always feel like somebody’s watching me  
And I have no privacy  
Who, I always feel like somebody’s watching me_

 

“Cute,” Len narrowed his eyes at his older self. “So what needs to be explained here?”

“A way out for one,” Cold answered. “And what will happen here and when you get out.” 

“You make it sound complicated.” 

“It will be.” 

The man from 2016 didn’t like the sound of certainty from the icy meta-human. His future self just stared at him with identical blue eyes. His face didn’t hold his usual mirth, which was an indication to Len that this was not a joke or something to make fun of. Something of note was the fact that Cold seemed to be hovering over the future Barry or Allen as he was taken to be called. 

“You should take him,” Allen replied from the couch. “When it’s time, the speed-force will grab him.” 

The older man frowned. “We don’t need to leave here.” It was a simple statement, but it showed Cold’s reluctance to leave the speedster alone. 

Allen chuckled. “The alterations haven’t hit me since I was on the Oculus. You are not my soul mate, Cold.” He stood shakily and walked around the couch to stand and face the man. “Mine will be Harrison Wells until I…” The future man paused, closing his eyes. When he opened them, he glanced at Len, before his eyes went back to Cold’s. 

There was a silent conversation between the two of them as they stared each other down. Until finally, Cold raised his hand with white mist flowing. He put it put it against Allen’s neck, his thumb caressing under his jaw. The speedster closed his eyes taking solace in the touch. When the older thief pulled away he turned to his younger self and left the house. 

Len watched before turning back to Allen, seeing him leaning against the back of the couch heavily. 

“Having us both here is causing you to get weaker,” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement. 

Allen smirked. “Having a past and future self together, let alone touch, causes quite the paradox.” He pointed to Len. “Five points to Slytherin for being so smart.” 

“What are you keeping away?” Len asked. 

The Barry from the far future looked at Len, his expression sobering quickly. It became a hollow mask that the thief found eerie on Barry’s face. “Go follow Cold, Len. Get your answers. Fix this.” 

There was hesitance in him. After all, Barry Allen was his secondary soul mate. After everything he did to ensure that the future Barry would survive his fight against the Time Masters, he didn’t think that letting the far future Barry suffer was something he’d allow. He tilted his head at the speedster, noticing the paleness of his features and the redness of his eyes. Allen looked like he was going through a drug withdrawal or a hangover.

“Does he know how fast you are falling?” Len asked. 

“He knows,” Allen replied softly. “We’ve had ample time to discuss everything.” He made a shooing motion with his hand. “Go, let him tell you. Cold obviously wants to see what it’s like to be snarky to oneself. That bastard has been making stupid quips about it since Rory left.” 

Len nodded and left without another word. He forced himself not to turn as he heard the thud of a body while he closed the door. Instead, he shut it with a snap trying not to imagine what lay in store for the man that had saved him. His blue eyes turned toward his older self, who obviously heard the speedster collapse as well. Cold’s eyes were icy, his face blank. 

“We better go before they appear.” He waved his hand and slowly the scene outside turned into Saints and Sinners. He walked behind the empty bar and poured himself and his younger self a drink. 

“Who are they?” Len asked as he leaned against the surface and grabbed his drink. 

“Depends on who you are talking about,” Cold replied. “I’m talking about the Time Wraiths and their leader. They’ve been after Allen since he’s been in the speed-force after getting captured.” He paused looking at the bar, his eyes seeing past the wooden surface. “Barry Allen, always ends up surprising and saving me.” 

“Why would they be after him?” Len raised an eyebrow when Cold looked up at him with a serious expression. “Because he’s dying?” 

“Yes,” The man nodded and quickly knocked back his drink before refilling it. “Time Wraiths are guardians of the speed-force and time in a sense. When speedsters mess with time, causing paradoxes and ripples in the flow of time, the wraiths hunt them. Allen, our far future Barry who still hasn’t been touch by the Time Master’s fuck up, has been manipulating the speed-force and time to correct what was wrong.” 

“Why go after him then if the Time Masters’ screwed up the timeline?” 

“Because he is the speedster that remembers what time was like before all this. He remembers his primary and how it was supposed to go.” Cold’s lips thinned. “He also knows how my life was supposed to go with my Barry and how yours was supposed to go before.”

“Mine?” Len leaned in. “Mine was different before?” 

“Barry…my Barry,” Cold took a breath. “You weren’t supposed to be soul mates. He knew vaguely of how the original time line was before. He also knew how time doesn’t like the splash the Time Masters made. I’m willing to bet he was ready to disappear, let the darkness swallow him whole, if it fixed the time line.” The older man sipped at his drink. “Allen, who’s timeline was destroyed and shredded by the bastards already, saw an opportunity for him to save his past, to save your Scarlet and my Guiding Star.” 

“In essence, Allen is taking the consequences from your Barry.” Len said.

“Not all, but the most grievous ones…” Cold replied. “Enough that I will still have a secondary when I get home.” 

“Guiding Star?” The younger of the two raised an eyebrow. “He was calling me his Moon, when I had your Mick carry him from the Oculus.” 

The older man smiled wistfully. “We believe faith and freedom must be our guiding stars, for they show us truth, they make us brace, give us hope, and leave us wiser than we were.”

“Ronald Reagan,” Len said as he lifted his glass to drink from it.

“Barry has done all of those things. He is my Guiding Star. Just as Mick is our Sun. Big and powerful, fiery and hot in his anger,” Cold put his glass down. “You will find out more about our little nicknames for each other…maybe.”

Len narrowed his eyes. “Maybe?” He lowered his glass with a snap against the wood. “Perhaps you should tell me what is happening while I’m here?” 

The older man sighed. He really wanted to draw this out more, see if his younger self would be as stubborn as he remembered. Perhaps it was only fitting that the time line was altered? His younger self will need the wakeup call, at least from the memories he’s starting to remember, he will. 

“You were encompassed by time, Len.” Cold stated factually. “Granted Allen and I saved you, but being in the middle of an explosion like that has consequences. One of those consequences is that you’ve absorbed some of the Oculus’s power as well as the speed-force.” He watched as Len’s eyes stared at his. “We don’t know how this affects you, I won’t even fully know until I leave here. But…” He trailed off looking around for a bit. Pulling out a shot glass, he grabbed some whiskey and began to pour. “Imagine yourself as the glass. Time is the whiskey. As time continues on,” The whiskey began to overflow from the shot glass. “You will stay the same. You will remember everything from your original time line. Not even Barry can say that for all his trips.” 

“Every timeline I’ll remember?” The Rogue asked. “Won’t all that cause me to be crazy?”

“Do you remember seeing yourself as a kid when you tried to save Lewis?” Cold stopped pouring the whiskey. “No, for the most part you will remember your timeline, but you will also be intuitive to the changes.” Waving a hand over the shot glass, the whiskey froze to ice. “Even the most drastic changes, you won’t be able to manipulate time like Allen does the speed-force but you’ll know enough.” 

“Will it alter you becoming a meta-human?” 

“You’ll have to wait to find out,” The man with the ice-powers smirked. “In a rush to be a meta-human?” 

Len gave a huff of amusement. “More like I don’t being caught in explosions if I can avoid them.” 

“This one I rather like,” Cold raised his hand and watched as he created ice crystals in the air from the moisture. “Though I’m sure Batman will want to study me.” He paused. “Red Riding will think it amusing, probably plan a heist with him just so he can see it. Barry’s darker twin would get a kick out of it too.” He looked at Len. “But it will help me keep some of the more invasive JLA members away from Barry.” He thought about it and nodded to himself.

“Red Riding and Barry’s dark twin?” Len raised both eyebrows. These nicknames didn’t ring a bell.

Cold chuckled. “Batman’s former companions, still are technically, but they grew older and had to go through some crap. Barry’s attached to them. One of them, Nightwing, is just as optimistic as Barry. The other, Red Hood…well my Guiding Star was awful dim for a while when he realized that boy’s past was a set point in time. They consider Barry their Uncle.” The older man shrugged as he came around the bar, heading to one of the pool tables. “They are part of Bat’s family that we’ve desensitized to time so Barry has people to fall on when stuff like this happens.” 

Len followed him, watching the man. He seemed more relax now that he was talking about people. He must trust Batman and his family to be so open. Even Len wasn’t that open about Mick and the man was his registered soul mate. 

“Why wouldn’t Barry trust his soul mate?” Len asked as his older version set up a game on the table. 

“Because, despite Barry believing in us, we weren’t the ones to push him to chase us.” Cold looked up, giving Len a significant look. “Barry was ready to waste away and die, if Bat’s didn’t befriend him and…” 

“And…?” 

Cold gave a self-deprecating smile. “They don’t use it against me, but we…you…push Barry into Bruce’s arms before we finally get together.” 

“What?” Len is at a loss for words. He pushes Barry into another man’s arms? He was an asshole, but he would never let his soul mate go to another man like. Barry was his! Len was territorial, he would…

“Lisa did warn us that it would happen.” Cold continued conversationally. “We just never thought Barry would be capable of something that wasn’t like a boy scout. Mick and I…we learned our lesson the hard way.” 

“And you don’t fear that Bruce or Barry would repeat what they did?” 

“From what we were told afterwards, Barry was having…issues. Bruce, who was intrigued by Barry after meeting him, kept an open door policy for him.” A stick was tossed to Len. “There’s a story behind Bruce and his soul mate. When Barry went to him…Bruce could relate on some level. They have more in common that both their names starting with B.” 

Len narrowed his eyes as he watched Cold casually set up. “And what do they have in common?”

Cold glanced at Len as he aimed his cue stick. “Both have primaries that died and know what it feels like to know what it is like to have a soul mate alive yet be alone.”

The white ball broke the triangle with a loud clack, the only thing breaking the silence of what was said.


	3. Rippling Effects

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cold and Snart have an interesting conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter song: Saturn by Sleeping at Last

_I’d give anything to hear  
You say it one more time_

“Huh,” Cold stood up, staring into the space of the far wall. “That’s new.”

“New?” Len’s chest has stilled when he heard Barry found someone who was like him. Someone who could understand the lost that he went through. If Bruce was that person, who was he to stop the kid from being with him.

“Bat’s soul mate wasn’t dead before. Must be a time anomaly from what’s been happening.” The man tilted his head. “Red’s still a fixed point, but it seems it’s a bit more brutal. Barry’s going to have his feelings stretched with this new one.”

It dawned to the thief what was happening. “You are remembering the changes of the timeline.”

The older Rogue nodded. “We had suspected it would happen. But…remembering the timelines at the same time…it’s a bit confusing.” He walked around the table to line up his next shot. “I see the two different outcomes. I see Bruce with his one-sided secondary mark which is the current timeline. Then I also see Bruce at odds with his primary that is still alive, which was my old one.”

“As interesting as your past sounds, how does that affect my present?” Len narrowed his eyes. He was done talking about things he hasn’t seen yet, that might not be seen by him. “Currently, I’m stuck in what are supposedly the Flash’s source of power, talking with my supposed future self and a ghost of a Flash that is already dead.”

“Chill out,” The older man said as he leaned against the pool stick as he held it upright on the table. Cold grinned. “Stop being so frosty, I’m you, remember? I know how you are feeling.”

“Somehow I doubt it,” Len turned his head away from the older man looking around the bar.

It crept in slowly. The temperature of the room dropped causing the younger Snart to see the white cloud of his breathe. He snapped his head back to his older self. The cue stick was iced over, frost creeping across the table toward Len.

“What are you doing?” The human asked.

“You are frustrated about being stuck here. It’s beyond your control. You don’t like it.” Cold’s voice was a bit snide. It reminded Len of how he talked to the Flash when they first met. “It’s been a few hours and you still don’t have your answers.” The older man sneered. “You just want to go home to a man that has been your soul mate for years. You want things to go back to the way they were before the Wave Rider.” Standing up, he let go of the frozen pool stick and walked closer to his younger self. Frost ghosted out from each step until he was right in front of Len. “Whether you want it or not, you’ve changed. Face facts and stop trying to hide away from this!”

“I don’t want this!” Len refused to show the man how much the cold was affecting him. He glared at the glowing icy eyes in defiance.

“You may be able to lie to everyone else,” Cold said dangerously soft. “But you cannot lie to me.” He stared at the young thief before him. “If you didn’t want this, then you shouldn’t have played hero.”

Identical blue eyes narrowed a bit. “What?” He was no hero.

“You should have let Mick die.” Cold responded flatly. “Simple choice, be the cold calculating criminal that everyone thinks you are.”

“Mick is my soul mate! I would never just leave him like that.” Len growled at the meta-human. “I know you are trying to rile me up and congratulations, it worked. But you should know…you don’t just allow your soul mates to die!”

Cold’s eyes softened a bit and he stepped back. “You will…” That caused the thief to pause in his anger.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You’ll find out,” The older thief sighed and stepped away, running a hand over his face. The speed-force was starting to affect him more, especially now that the time anomaly is solidifying his timeline. “As of right now, we are waiting for your Barry…the one from 2016 to appear.”

Len raised an eyebrow. He knew himself and knew that he wouldn’t talk about what just happened. So he continued with this change in conversation. “You mean coming here isn’t a normal thing?”

“Hardly,” There was a snort of amusement. “The speed-force is like an addiction to speedsters. A drug, a very dangerous, very addictive drug. It holds everything that a speedster wants. Barry has a stronger connection to it than anyone.” His face turned solemn. “Due to the corruption and ripples the Time Masters started, Barry needs two lightning rods to keep him grounded from it.” 

Len saw the man’s face twitch as it morph briefly from the cold façade to something akin to fear before disappearing. The changes…how many changes were happening because Allen and Cold scooped him out of the timeline or because the Time Masters were trying to play God? How many things were rewriting themselves over and over again in his head?

“What did you see?” The thief asked. “And I don’t want anything on Wayne or his little brats. What did you see of Lisa…of me…or…of Barry?”

Cold straightened as he turned away from Len. “Too many things are changing…your speedster is grieving. Now and will later.” He looked to the ceiling, seeing the memories in front of his eyes and reaches a hand toward them. “His parents alive, his pain at asking the Reverse-Flash to kill his mother again, Mick’s death by Thawne, Lisa’s takeover of the Rogue’s.” He paused, his eyes blinking from their unseeing state as he turned to his younger self. “Those are changing; constantly in rotation right now with constant possibilities…but the one thing that is not changing, that is staying bright among these new memories is The Flash’s death at the hands of…” 

“Cold,” Allen’s voice cut through the bar. They turned to see the older speedster looking worse than before. His eyes were dark with circles, his face slimmer. He looked like he was going to keel over at any moment. It was the green eyes that bothered both Snarts the most. They were haunted and milky as though the life was sucked out of them.

The older thief cursed and swiftly went over to the speedster, “He’s here isn’t he?”

“Yeah,” Allen said softly. “It’s time…”

The younger Len watched as the future him raised a hand toward Allen’s face, only to stop before dropping it. The speedster’s eyes held understanding and a bit of sorrow.

“My Guiding Star?” Cold inquired softly.

“Hurting…” The gaunt man replied. “Bruce is trying to tether him as much as he can, but…” He paused and looked at Len. “Let’s just get you both home.”

A chill that had nothing to do with Cold’s abilities went down Len’s spine. Despite talking to Allen and Cold, he hardly learned anything solid. The timeline was changing too fast, even for his older self to keep a grasp on his own memories. It was disturbing to that that he wouldn’t able to remember his original timeline. What will he miss that should have happened? What won’t he remember?

“Where are we picking up Scarlet?” He asked as the turmoil in his head was forcibly pushed back.

“Home,” Allen murmured softly.

“Home?”

Cold was quiet as he stared at the speedster’s face before turning to Len. “We are going to the place where it all began…to his childhood home, where Thawne killed his mother.”


	4. A Way Out

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There is one way out...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter Song: Lost in the Echo by Linkin Park

_Each word gets lost in the echo  
So one last lie I can see through _

Allen had taken that out of the bar, to the graveyard. In the distance, they saw Barry with the speed-force.

“Doc Allen?” Len frowned.

“No,” Cold replied. “The speed-force trying to teach Barry a lesson.”

“Seems like a pretty upsetting way to teach a lesson.”

The older speedster beside them was leaning heavily on the tree they were standing beside. “Barry’s mother…is very important to him. We have had to watch my mother die multiple times.”

Len turned to the man. “Why? What is so important about it?”

“Thawne uses that to create your Barry. Barry stops himself from saving his mother. Barry then saves his mother. Thawne has to kill his mother again to set things right. Barry has to kill his mother himself…” Cold murmured to himself. “It’s a cycle that Barry has learned the hard way to not mess with.”

The gaunt speedster didn’t turn to the two men as he watched a version of his younger self speak with the speed-force. “I was told a few times that Barry is the embodiment of a hero. None of the JLA has sacrificed more that we have. None of them has been hurt more than we have. Only few understand the strength that we have to go on and continue to smile and perceive the innocence in the world.”

The thief tilted his head and watched Barry as he ran away following the shadow. Len had thought Barry was young, naïve, and too innocent. If what they are saying is true…past and future…then Barry is a force to be reckoned with. He takes a hit when things emotionally get complicated, but stands firm physically. The kid can preserve through it all and still come out with his wide-eyed optimism. It was something Len found admirable. Stupid…but admirable.

“Come on,” Allen spoke. “We need to follow him.” He wavered but used his command of the speed-force to move the three of them to Barry’s next destination.

\------

“Do you remember this book? It was always your favorite.”

Barry stared at the speed-force that was in the form of his mother. He has been taunted by visions of his loved ones, but this…this was cruel. His heart broke as he watched the imposter play his mother.

“Once there was a little dinosaur called Maiasaur, who live with his mother. One day, he told his mother, ‘I wish I were special like the other dinosaurs. If I were a T. Rex, I could chomp with my ferocious teeth!’”

“But if you were a T. rex, said his mother, How would you hug me with your tiny little arms?” The young man continued staring at the woman. Though his heart hurt…it was good to hear his mother’s voice again. “I wish I were an Apatosaurus, said the little dinosaur, so with my long neck I could see high about the treetops. But if you were an Apatosaurus, said his mother, how would you hear me in the treetops when I told you I love you? What makes you so special, little Maiasaur? Said his mother, Is it your ferocious teeth or long neck or pointy beak? What makes you special…is out of all the different dinosaurs in the big, wide, world, you have the mother who is just right for you and who will always love you.”

The last three words were echoed by the embodiment of his mother. A tear fell from Barry’s eye as he memorized her face.

“You’re ready,” The power said. Barry stood up and closed his eyes. He knew what he had to do to leave. Reaching out he grabbed the shadow and opened his eyes to reveal identical eyes staring back. The shadow was himself…all his doubts and fears. He turned to look at the speed-force embodiment, his clothes changing from what they were to the Flash suit as he accepted all of himself. His mother stood, smiling, as she reached out a hand to caress his cheek. “My beautiful boy, before you go…there is another here who needs your help.” She nodded behind him.

Barry furrowed his eyebrows in confusion before turning. In the adjoining dining room, an older, sickly version of himself sat in a chair. Beside him were Snart…and an older version of Snart.

“Snart?” Barry tilted his head. “What are you doing here?” He paused. “Is this another one of your illusions?” He glanced as the speed-force that still looked like his mother.

She just continued to smile.

“No, Barry.” Allen said weakly. “This is a result of others’ mistake to the timeline, to your timeline.” He glanced at the two Snarts. “Could you two give us a moment?” He raised his hand beckoning Barry closer.

Len frowned as he stepped closer to the speed-force as Cold kneeled down before Allen. They whispered to each other before Allen smirked at Cold.

“Have a little faith,” The older speedster said causing the man to still momentarily. The thief then stood up and walked to Len. Allen looked up at his younger self standing cautiously in front of him. “You know, none of this happened to me.” He said. “You and your timeline are a byproduct of the Time Masters.”

“The Time Masters?”

“Rip Hunter is one…his leaders manipulated the timeline through something called the Oculus.” Allen explained. “They unraveled my timeline in order to create this one. Gideon…she’s mine. When they got to me, I sent her back to Thawne.”

Barry slowly sat in a chair beside his older self. “I want to be sitting down don’t I?”

The other speedster smirked, a smirk similar to the older Harrison Wells. “Probably,” He said simply before continuing. “Harrison Wells was our platonic soul mate before the Time Masters manipulated Thawne to corrupt our timeline when we were eleven. They are the reason our mom dies.” He raises a hand to stop his younger’s anger. “It’s why those two are here.” He nods to the two Snarts who are conversing with the speed-force. “Cold, Snart’s future self, is a meta-human due to a dark matter explosion with the cold gun that the Time Masters created. His Barry was able to figure out from the clues I sent back in time.”

“Through Gideon…by sending it to Thawne so she would end up in S.T.A.R. Labs?”

“You are catching on.” Barry smiled a bit at the compliment. “His Barry was able to get himself on the Wave Rider where Len and the rest of the Legends crew was when they faced the Time Masters. Gideon opened his containment unit and Barry was able to exact his revenge.”

“Did…did a lot of people die?”

“Yes,” Allen said solemnly. “There was…too much that happened. He helped the Legends get to the Oculus device, but he was captured in order to replace me.”

“Replace you? Why?” Barry’s face contorted in confusion, before horror. “The Time Masters are capturing speedsters? What for?”

“They were using us, as fuel for the Oculus.” Allen replied. Barry shot up, his chair flying back. “Easy…” He put a hand on Barry’s wrist. “I’m already dead Barry. Cold’s Flash was going to replace me but they were able to get him out. I’m a fading speedster in the speed-force.”

“How can…why….” The younger speedster was stumbling in trying to think of a coherent sentence. How…how can his timeline unravel enough that a future version of him dies. Not only that but telling him now could…

“I am not you.” Allen spoke sternly. “Time hasn’t rippled far back for me to feel it, but Cold’s Flash…that is a potential future.”

“What do you mean potential?” Barry looked at his alternate future self.

“Barry…what I’m about to tell you…the knowledge I’m about to give cannot be told to anyone.” The older speedster said firmly. What he was about to reveal could either help Cold’s and Len’s timeline, or change it reversibly. Allen only hoped he is remembering his younger self of when he had Len and Mick as a soul mate and not of when he had Harrison Wells.

“I…” Barry paused. He remembered what happened last time he had knowledge of the future. It didn’t end too well. “I don’t think…”

“Trust me,” Allen urged. “After messing with time as many times as I have, I think I know what information I can pass on.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Post via my phone from work. Because I could. ENJOY!


	5. Saving Grace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barry gets more questions than answers while Len gets to escape the speed-force.
> 
> Surprise Character appearance at the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing and this isn't betaed.
> 
> Chapter Song: Even In Death by Evanescence

_They took you away from me but now I’m taking you home  
I will stay forever here with you, my love._

 

Both thieves snapped their heads toward Barry and Allen when the chair clattered backwards. They watched momentarily as the older speedster grabbed the younger’s wrist. He spoke quietly to the man in red, bringing the uncertain expression to Barry’s face.

“Allen, as you’ve taken to calling him, has told Barry about what the Time Masters did to him.” Nora’s doppelganger said drawing their attention back to her.

“I cannot believe you allowed them to do that to Barry.” Cold narrowed his eyes at the speed-force. “Isn’t he…”

“We could not see.” The being said cutting him off with a raised eyebrow. “The Oculus was running on unstable energy sources as our speedsters were disappearing. Unstable, but effective in shielding from us or else we would have warned them all.”

“Like you warned the kid about Zoom?” Len inquired with a huff.

The speed-force shifted her eyes onto him. “We cannot interfere at every obstacle. It would hinder the growth of the speedster. He sought us here. That is the only reason we speak to him now.”

“And allowing Allen to pull me from the timeline?” The man inquired with a sneer. “Is that because I found out the truth?”

“No,” The answer was sharp with a reprimand. Len’s eyes glanced at Cold as the man shifted uneasily, not noticeably but enough for him to recognize the discomfort. “Time will want compensation for Allen tearing through it to pull you away. We are finding it difficult to give without killing his…” The entity looked at Cold. “Barry, who will bear a third of the weight of the cosmic lash this whole situation will cause.” 

“Wait,” Len tilted his head as he thought about what was just said. “Are you telling me that Barry, my Scarlet and his soul mate, both will bear the brunt of a repercussion caused by those bastards?”

“Yes.”

Len glared at the one-word answer he received. “Why is he the one who suffers the most?”

“Because…” Allen’s voice called from behind them. Cold immediately went to help Barry hold the older speedster up. “Despite what everyone thinks, I don’t crumble so easily even when I’ve been pushed down.”

“What happened?” Cold asked.

“He…I…uh…” Barry looked at Allen not knowing what to say.

Len did though, especially seeing the troubled expression on his speedster’s face. “He showed you the future?”

Barry looked at Len. His expression morphed to that of pain. It wasn’t just the potential future that he was shown. Allen had used the speed-force to show him everything. He had called the ability omnipotence. Barry was told that because of the changed timeline he might not master it like Allen had. There were different ways to master the speed-force, was what his older self said. But...Barry also saw timelines that haven’t happened, that can’t happen now. It’s all so jumbled up in his head, he was having a hard time sorting through it all.

“Now isn’t the time for the game of twenty questions,” Allen said as an isolated storm of smoke and lightning appeared. “Your ride is here.”

“I got this,” Cold gave Barry a significant look as he took most of the older speedster’s weight. “Go, take Len and go back to your proper time.”

The younger man frowned and let go, stepping in front of the duo. “But I…what if I…”

“Have faith kid,” The older man smirked at Barry.

“Faith is a little hard to come by.” The speedster frowned.

“Nah, you just need reminding of what you will be fighting for.” Cold responded, causing Len to raise an eyebrow. What was his older self doing? Allen chuckled as he shifted, so he could stand by himself. “Let me show you.”

“Show me wh--” Whatever Barry was going to say was cut off as Cold pulled the younger man into a passionate kiss. The thief’s hand was gripping the back of Barry’s hair, frosting it a little bit. His other was at Barry’s neck stroking his pulse with that cold touch.

Len’s body jerked slightly as the older man kissed the kid. He watched, his eyes narrowing, as the older man put everything into the kiss. Was this all for show or was it something else? It seemed like the meta-human was trying to make up for something. A growl started to grow in the back of his throat the longer the kiss went on. This speedster was his! No one else’s!

Barry opened his eyes as the older man pulled back. Wow…he didn’t know Snart could kiss like that. If he knew that…

“I’m sorry kid,” Cold whispered for his ears only. “You are going to have to bear this weight alone for a while.” He smiled sadly and leaned in whispering something into Barry’s ear.

The speedster’s eyebrows furrowed as the man went back to his older self. He was really getting tired of all the questions that kept popping up with no answers. But before he could ask or comment, his name was shouted from the storm.

“Barry!”

He turned to the storm. “Iris?”

“That’s seems to be our queue kid.” Len said looking at the red speedster.

Barry stared into the storm, hearing Iris calling for him to come home. In his heart, deep down, he was conflicted. It was so peaceful here, but…reaching out Barry grabbed Len. The man protested the arm around his waist.

“It’s going to be a bumpy ride.” He answered, tightening his hold. Glancing back at the duo, he nodded before reaching out a hand into the storm. He felt Iris grab his hand and he watched as she appeared before his eyes before pulling him back home.

Allen smiled as Len was pulled along with Barry. The kid was going to be in for a rough patch until his tether got to him. “You ready to go home as well Cold?”

“As ready as I can be,” The thief said as he looked at the speed-force, who still looked like Barry’s mom. “Will they both be okay?”

“There are trials that will have ups and downs that we can’t interfere with more than has already been.” The speed-force answered. It paused before tilting its head. “But we believe it will be okay.”

Cold nodded and turned back to Allen. “Thank you for everything…Barry.”

The older speedster smirked at the man. “It was a pleasure to meet my past’s future soul mates. If that makes any sense…”

“After all this, it makes perfect sense.” The ice meta shifted, knowing this was the end for the future Allen. “I hope you rejoin with your loved ones.”

“Me too,” Allen whispered as his eyes spark with the familiar yellow lightning once more. A storm started outside the house as he used his knowledge of the speed-force to open a sliver in time. He frowned as he pinned an opening in Cold’s timeline to send him back on. “And for what it’s worth, I’m sorry I couldn’t send you back to when your Barry and Mick got back from this adventure.”

Cold snorted, he honestly expected this. Saw it really. “I’ll deal with whatever is happening.” He looked at the speedster as the familiar yellow turned blue. “Goodbye Barry Allen.”

“Goodbye Leonard Snart,” Allen said as a crack of lightning came through the house and zapped the ice meta-human away to his proper time. Once cleared, Allen’s lightning disappeared and he fell backwards.

The speed-force caught the man and knelt down beside him as he because to fade.

“Taking the shape of _my_ soul mate is just cruel.” He murmured looking up at the image of Harrison Wells with an unfocused stare.

“You have been good to us for many, many years Barry Allen.” The speed-force said. “It would be cruel to deny you one last look at your loved ones when you helped us after those who used our gifted.”

On the other side of him, Iris appeared caressing his cheek. “The new path carved from the blood of your family and your hands will pave the way for them. Your past self will face trials, but you will have new friends and new allies.” She smiled. “And the one you saved…he will be safe.” She turned to the door of the house. “Pulled from the Oculus’s grasp and the destruction of your timeline, we will allow him to go back and we will pay the price to Time for it. We want to give you something for everything you’ve sacrificed for us.”

Allen tried to lift his head, but couldn’t so the speed-force that looked like Harrison Wells, beckoned the person from the door. His unfocused gazed struggled to see who was there. The person came closer and knelt down beside the Iris doppelganger. That’s when Allen was able to see who it was. He smiled genuinely knowing that Barry, Len, and Mick would take care of him.

“Bart…”

“Grandpa,” The teen murmured. His voice was shaky as though he was going to cry.

“Thank you,” Allen said to the two speed-force clones. This truly was more than he could hope for. His eyes stayed on his grandson though. He wanted to tell him what he needed to know about the timeline and time travel, but he couldn’t seem to muster the energy up to open his mouth.

Bart grabbed his hand and held it tightly. “Don’t worry grandpa. Gideon will make sure I’m okay. I’ll be okay…” He smiled weakly at the older speedster. “She always makes sure that we Allens are okay…just like you programmed her to.”

_My beautiful boy…_ Allen closed his eyes, holding onto his grandson’s hands. Yes, he programmed Gideon for everything. Ensured she was a focal point. Technology from other planets made that possible. Gideon will take care of Bart since he couldn’t. He programmed her to know every change of soul mate, every line, every member and friend of his family. Countless hours and evolutionary programming went into her. Gideon was his ultimate failsafe. It’s why he ensured she went back into the past with Thawne. It made him relax and let himself go peacefully.

Allen made sure that Gideon did one the one thing that meant the most to him.

She will always take care of her family.


End file.
